


Crackle

by Skye_La



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Affairs, Alternate Universe, F/F, F/M, Marriage, Swan Queen Week, Swan Queen Week 2015
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-01
Updated: 2015-02-01
Packaged: 2018-03-10 01:56:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3272501
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skye_La/pseuds/Skye_La
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina Mills is enjoying Winter, though it's lonely when her husband is away. One quiet day Emma Swan literally falls into her lap and causes more disruption than either of them expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crackle

Regina reclined in a window seat watching snow melt and drip from the pine trees outside. A book lay open on her lap. She watched a sparrow hop between the branches, pecking at things too small for her to see.

She had the window cracked slightly. The smell of fresh, cold air made her feel free, small and safe all at the same time. She didn’t need to delve into the lines of her book to get lost when her view was as beautiful as this. She imagined mountains beyond mountains, blinding blue sky and the crunch of powdery fresh snow underfoot.

She realized she actually could hear fresh snow being crushed under wheel. She closed the window, slid a bookmark between the pages and rose from her seat. She put the book on a shelf in the small, white room filled with nothing but bookshelves and a comfy looking chair. 

She checked her hair as she passed a mirror on the stairs. She pulled her thick, grey cardigan tightly around her, having let herself get colder than she should next to the window.

She heard a car door close as she descended the last steps into the large hallway. She checked her clothes in another, larger mirror that hung in the hall. She thought she looked ok, though she wasn’t expecting anyone to visit.

She heard a whoosh, a shout and a thud. She rushed to the door and looked out down the path.

 

“Fuck” Emma said, feeling like pain radiate out from the base of her spine like it was on fire

“Oh my gosh, are you ok?” Asked a woman rushing down the path to help her.

“Yeah, I think so” Emma lied, because saying “I think my ass is broken” might be considered rude since it was her path that broke it, she didn’t want to go throwing accusations around. She took the hand she offered and got to her feet. 

“Are you sure?” the woman asked “come inside” she said without waiting for a response.

Emma bent down to pick up the parcel she had dropped, then she took the other woman’s hand again and they walked up slowly together.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” The woman asked her once they were inside, looking her up and down with an expression of concern that Emma thought could be a well disguised check out.

Emma touched the small of her back and winced.

“Do you mind if I use your bathroom?” she asked so she could see the damage done to her back in a mirror. She expected she would be bleeding profusely and probably only had minutes to live.

“Of course, it’s here” the woman showed her down the hall and Emma hobbled after her. “I’ll be in the kitchen, just through there. Let me know if you need anything” she said.

“Thanks” Emma said, disappearing behind the door and dropping her polite smile immediately. “Fuck” she said quietly again to herself. 

She lifted her shirt and looked in the mirror. An angry purple bruise was surfacing already. 

She appeared at the kitchen door, feeling awkward about being injured in a stranger’s house and also the wet boot prints she had left all up the hall that her host had been polite enough to ignore.

“Hi” she said and smiled.

The woman looked up from the magazine she had been leafing through.

“Hi” she replied “coffee?”

Emma hesitated, feeling she should probably go home while she could still sit in her car, but then she saw that she had put a fresh pot.

“Sure” she replied. The woman smiled and poured her a cup.

“So I really hope you’re R Mills” Emma said in the ensuing quiet “cause I came up here to bring this package” She thumbed over her shoulder, pointing to the parcel in the hall “that was delivered to me by accident.”

“I am.” The woman replied “Regina” she said, putting the coffee down on the table. 

“I’m Emma” the blonde woman replied and held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you Emma” Regina smiled and shook her hand. Emma was surprised and impressed it was such a firm shake. Emma had her pegged as the shy, retiring housewife. Possible trophy wife because she was, Emma noted in her professional opinion, also totally hot. She looked around the kitchen, no kids lived here.

 

They chatted for a while, until Emma noticed the snow piling up at the door.

“Uh oh” she said “The road was already pretty icy, Do you think I can get down the hill in this? Three inches must have fallen since I’ve been here! I can’t believe I didn’t notice”

Regina checked her watch.

“Wow, it’s getting late, it’ll be dark soon too” she said “what are you driving?”

“A Volkswagen Bug” Emma said, frowning as she pulled out her phone.

“Oh wow, how did you even get up here?” Regina asked, genuinely surprised.

“With difficulty” Emma replied, now holding the phone to her ear.

“Hey” she said in a soft voice that made Regina feel like she was intruding.

“How are you?...that’s good. Listen I might be home late, it’s really snowing up here…oh yeah?” 

Regina tidied the coffee mugs away, sensing Emma was getting ready to leave but she didn’t know how she would. Maybe her partner had a more robust vehicle.

“I can’t wait…have a good time tonight, I’ll let you know when I’m home…love you too, bye” Emma hung up.

“You won’t get in trouble for being home late, will you?” Regina asked, insinuating something and half amused at the idea of her being a threat to anyone’s relationship.

“He’ll manage I think” Emma said with a smile.

“He?” Regina blurted. Emma looked at her questioningly. “Sorry” she panicked “Could he come pick you up?”

“Oh!” Emma said “He’s my son” 

Regina found that even more shocking.

“Oh, could your husband get you then?” Regina asked. Emma didn’t respond straight away.

“I feel like there are two conversations happening here” she said “I’m not married”

“I’m sorry” Regina said again “I didn’t mean to make assumptions about your life”

“It’s ok” Emma said “I just had no idea what you were talking about” she laughed. Regina smiled, relieved Emma hadn’t taken offense that firstly she thought she way gay and secondly that she assumed she must be married if she had a child. 

“But there’s no one to get me, I think I’ll just have to drive carefully” she looked out of the window again. It was coming down thick and fast and the light was fading.

“You can stay here if you need to” Regina said, joining Emma at the window “I wouldn’t drive in this and I’m used to it”

Emma turned to Regina and looked concerned.

“There’s a guy who clears the roads but he won’t be out until the morning. It’s really ok for you to stay. Actually I insist, I couldn’t sleep knowing you’d gone out in this” Regina said.

Emma smiled at her. Regina’s gaze seemed more intense than before. More searching, more…something Emma couldn’t place.

They talked more, they cooked some food and eventually headed into the living room where Regina lit a fire. Their conversation was fast paced and playful. Regina missed talking to someone she was really interested in getting to know. They both felt the hints of something more. Emma poking fun at this woman she hardly knew, Regina’s eyes lingering on Emma’s lips a moment too long.

“It’s nice that you’re here, I never do this for myself. It seems like a waste” Regina said, appreciating the crackle of burning logs.

“Are you here by yourself?” Emma asked

“No, my husband is here most of the time” she said. Emma’s ears pricked up, wondering how she hadn’t mentioned him sooner in the day.

“Where is he now?” Emma asked

“He’s visiting his son in the UK” Regina said

“Wow” Emma had not expected that “That’s a long way away. Where abouts?” she asked

“Nottingham” Regina said, rubbing her forehead absentmindedly. Emma nodded.

“I have no idea where that is” she laughed. Regina smiled. She felt like they were friends and they were sharing. She asked her what she’d wondered since Emma got there.

“Are you with anyone?” she asked, keeping it gender neutral on purpose.

“Nope” Emma said

“Henry’s father?” Regina asked

“Doesn’t even know he exists. Doesn’t deserve to” Emma replied, frankly.

Regina watched her disappear into thoughtfulness. She could see there was something painful in Emma’s past and didn’t want her to linger on it.

“Well I think I’m going to go to bed.” Regina said, sitting up.

“Yeah” Emma came back to reality.

Regina showed her to her room and said goodnight.

Emma looked at herself in the long mirror.

“Come one” she said quietly, as she took her jacket off. “Get it together, she’s married” a knock came from the door. Emma turned, with her belt unbuckled and jeans unfastened to see Regina standing there, probably having just heard her talking to herself.

Regina looked her up and down slowly, holding the toothbrush meant for Emma.

“Are you ok?” she asked. Emma took the toothbrush from her.

“Yeah” she hesitated “are you?” Regina’s dark eyes met hers and for a moment neither of them spoke.

“Yes” Regina said eventually “Goodnight Emma” she said as she turned. Emma leant out of the doorway to watch her leave. Regina turned as she closed her own door, watching Emma watching her. The door shut and Emma turned back to her room. She threw the toothbrush at the pillows of the bed. It bounced and fell on the thick carpet. Emma’s hands were over her eyes. She stood still for a moment, then regained her composure, picked up the toothbrush and went to her en suite. 

She lay in the bed, not sleeping. She thought about the moments they connected during the day, when Regina’s smile seemed to be fuelling her own, how Regina’s eyes drank her in.

 

Regina lay on the other side of the wall, torturing herself with the same thoughts. Emma’s unzipped jeans filled her mind. She wanted to grab them, pull Emma over to her and kiss her. She knew she was lonely when Robin was away but this was something else. This was how it had been with Robin in the early days, but worse. The woman was in her house, in that bed, talking herself down from…Regina didn’t know what but she let her imagination wander. She couldn’t do this, she couldn’t make this decision. She felt two equally strong conflicting emotions, filling her chest until she thought she might explode when she heard a knock at her door.

Emma had decided for her. ‘Thank god’ Regina thought as the door creaked open.


End file.
